Ok, my gliders need help & input.

So I will try to make this as short and to the point as possible. :-@: Try.

My gliders have been on HPW for a long, long time now. We switched to Plus around Feb/March, then Complete around May. I could be off a little on the months, as my memory sucks. Anyhoo...around Feb/March, my gliders started looking a little bit cracked. I figured it was because I was lazily changing their pouches once a week rather than 2 times per week as I usually do. So I didn't think anything of it and went back to being more diligent about changing twice per week. They didn't look better so I figured I needed to stop using fabric softener. (which I have used for a few years now) Again...they didn't look better. Started to get worried. I took a pic of them on June 8th so I could really start tracking the looks of their fur. I also wanted to try a different diet just because nothing else seemed to help. So the first part of June, I switched to Priscilla Price's diet. Still nothing's changed. They still look like crap and sometimes I think they look worse. I mean they will always be beautiful to their momma but they are all disheveled and I'm worried. I don't know why this is happening. I had fecals done on all of them because I have a parasite phobia...fecals were perfect. Now the only thing I can think of (and I did discuss this with Peggy) is the heat/humidity of the glider room. Rick is now working full time from home in our glider room/office so it gets pretty hot in here. He keeps the door open but the afternoon sun comes in and heats it up pretty well and then with the computer being on all day for 10 hours...that heats it up too. It's a small room. I just ordered a digital therm/humidity gage from Amazon but it's not here yet. If we had to guess, this room probably stays about 85 during the day. Give or take a degree or two. I'm not sure if it's overly humid in here, or under what it should be.

Take a look at these pics, are they as bad as I think they are or am I just imagining them getting worse??

JUNE 8th

JULY 12th

JULY 19th

So....what do you all think? Once I get the digital therm/temp gage...what SHOULD the humidity percentage be in here? Can heat do this??

I think it very well could be the heat and humidity - I know low humidity effects my gliders' fur, so I would think high could, too. With the way the weather has been lately, I should get a dehumidifier - I got a humidifier in the winter and it really helped. I can definitely tell a difference between June 8th and July 12th, but not really between the 12th and 19th? Although, it could also be the different angles they're at?

Ya...I *think* in person, that they look worse. It is hard to tell though. I just sorta need to find out if I need a humidifyer or a de-humidifyer. I don't know what the proper humidity percentage should actually be. Ugh!

I've found that when the humidity is in the "comfort zone" as it is titled on the hygrometer in my glider room, the gliders seem to look and feel the best. Let me go see what the range is that is highlighted as "comfort zone". It seems to be about 35-55%. Right now, their room is 76 degrees with 75% humidity. My AC unit is going in the living room and there is a fan directed into the gliders room, but it doesn't seem to help as much as I'd like.

Yes, heat and humidity affect all hair/fur. But, you are a hairdresser, so I'm sure you already know that.It also can affect skin health/suppleness (is that a word?) which also affects hair/fur.

Some of the gliders in my home are looking pretty bad right now. I know that they will look fine once it is not over 100 degrees every single day for a bit. BUT, they all look better when I put a little vitamin E in their staple food (liquid vitamin E). Have you tried that? It is not a cure-all, and I would not do it all year round, but it might be the little kick they need. Vitamin E has benefits for both skin and hair.

As an interesting aside - and it may just be coincidence - but I have noticed a difference in the way my gliders look dependant upon what room they are in. I have 4 rooms with gliders in them. Room 1 has a large window and stays very warm. It is about 82 degrees in there ALL the time. Room 2 has a small window and stays about 72-75 degrees with the exception of when the sun is shining in the room and then it heats up to about 80 or so.Room 3 has no window and stays 78 degrees all dayRoom 4 is a smaller pass through room that stays about 75 all day as well.

Many of the gliders in room one look like your photos above. None of the 27 gliders living in room 4 look bad at all. Room 2 houses only gliders with special needs and their cage mates (except one cage which is all "normal" gliders) and some of them have cracked fur just always, so I don't comment on those gliders. So, maybe it is coincidence, or maybe what you and I are seeing is.... well,.... what "glider glisten" looks like. LOL (My mom says she does not sweat, she glistens).

-----------♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥-----------~*~ Val ~*~ Passionate = one step down from crazy

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures - Thornton Wilder

We are what we are, no matter what we might wish to be, or pretend to be. - Dean Koontz in The Face

Some of mine seem to be a tiny bit cracked, but not nearly as bad as they were when the humidity was below 15% during the winter, before I got the humidifier. I was wondering about the "glistening" thing, too. At a very low level of humidity, pretty much all were looking cracked and Tika actually had some overgrooming above her eyebrows (I was wondering if she had dry, itchy skin) and now they are all so much better.

So maybe they are glistening. lol Well...when I get my gauge, I'll know for sure what the levels are. I'm just confused because last year, he worked here in this room too. Minus one day per week. I would not think the humidity levels would be that much different this summer verses last but who knows....very well could be. It's startling when you've never seen them like this.

Have to ask if the HPW was working for you why did you change diets?If nothing else in that room has changed but the diet I say it could be the diet causing the cracked fur. You could try adjusting the humity levels but if everything is the same from last summer then you have to look at what has changed and start there.

The issue is that the post was started by listing diets that the gliders had been on. My impression was that Davie knew this was going to be one of the first questions out of everyone's mouth, so she just answered it up front. I could be wrong about that.

I think (and could be wrong again) that Karen's point is that if you have even the slightest concern that these changes are a result of something that you are doing, then go back to doing everything exactly like you did when they looked good to you (fabric softener, original HPW, etc). If it clears up, then you know it was caused by the changes you made. If it does not clear up, then you know there has to be another component.

Just my 2 cents on what I think everyone is trying to say here. ?????

-----------♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥-----------~*~ Val ~*~ Passionate = one step down from crazy

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures - Thornton Wilder

We are what we are, no matter what we might wish to be, or pretend to be. - Dean Koontz in The Face

No that's right. I pre-listed all things first to get questions out of the way. As many factors and possible causes as I could think to pre list. But ya, trying Peggy's new diets is just plain because I wanted to and figured, 'Why not?' A normal profound reason for lots of things I do. lol I figured it couldn't be that much different than the normal HPW.

I'm not saying it's the diet, I'm more leaning to the temp/humidity of the room but really, I'm waiting on the new gauge which will (should) be here tomorrow. My local pet stores only had the compass style and I wanted digital. So ya...waiting on what the readout is and that will determine my next step.

Thank you Val. I know it don't always come out the way I mean.It just sounds like you had too many changes at once and it's hard to determine what the cause is. You have to go back and one by one change things.Seems up here I don't have humidity problems. So I've never had cracked fur.I don't know enough about Complete to form an opinion.